York Graduate Appointed 7th Artist-In-Residence for Annual Appell Fellowship

June 21, 2018

Spanning a year in term, the Appell Arts Fellowship is a residency program providing housing, parking, studio space, and a monthly stipend to an art graduate each year from York College. The program concludes with an exhibition of the fellow’s work from their year in this program.

After winning first place in the 2018 Fine Art Senior Exhibition for her series of paintings exploring masculinity, recent graduate, Lexus Gore ’18, (Philadelphia) was named this year’s fellow for the program.

Spark of Interest

Lexus first picked up drawing from her younger brother’s encouragement and from watching anime. She loved the art and graphic work of shows such as Blood+ and S-CRY-ed and her brother said he’d learn too. Lexus began going to libraries for how-to drawing books and taught herself different techniques. While biology was still her focus, she found her love of art and it was during her senior year in high school that Lexus decided to pursue an artistic career instead.

When Lexus first thought about attending college, she considered pursuing an education in biology or along the lines of veterinary science. By senior year in high school, everything changed. Wanting to get away from home, but still be close enough to afford attending college and come home when she wanted to, York College became her choice for the art program and galleries. She wanted to challenge herself by going away from home and truly working towards her dream of being an artist.

Leaving a Mark on York

As an art student at York College, Lexus has been most proud of her work in the 2018 Fine Art Senior Exhibition where she won first place for inspiring work. She also had her work accepted into the Annual Juried Student Exhibition during all four years at York College, which is a very rare accomplishment! Additionally, Lexus was honored academically with making the Dean’s List.

A hard-working and dedicated student, Lexus could be found in the Cora Miller and Brossman art galleries or at Marketview Arts downtown constantly lending a helping hand with the various exhibits and working closely with faculty and artists that came to display their work here in York.

In her latest work as a senior, Lexus explored concepts of masculinity with painting diverse men sleeping among stuffed animals. She wanted to capture a different side to them—one with a more gentle tone in a completely natural and human state. The work reveals the pressure society inflicts on men and what makes them manly. Her paintings show that men do not have to conform to what society believes they should be, but rather be their “true you” as she describes. The more Lexus worked on this project, the more she realized her desire to paint and further explore redefining gender roles through art.

Shaping a Future

As this year’s fellow, Lexus hopes to accomplish much with building connections deep in the downtown York community. She wants to help promote art, specifically the galleries York College has to offer and make them more accessible and known to the diverse community surrounding the college.

Lexus wants to bring individuals of all backgrounds together and help them better understand the thought and meaning behind each piece of art. Her future plans also include being a curator of art museums and working in galleries alongside other artists and continue to develop her own artistic style.